Filippo Nicolini 🧬
@filonico.bsky.social
170 followers 400 following 32 posts
🧬🦪🦗🧽 Dealing/struggling with invertebrate evolutionary genomics 🎓 he/him postodoc in @robertofeuda.bsky.social lab at Uni of Leicester (UK), former PhD student at Uni of Bologna (IT) 🎨💭 Also drawing & communicating science https://filonico.github.io/
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filonico.bsky.social
2nd paper outta my PhD is NOW PUBLISHED😭

🧬🖥️ 🦑Here we show how comparative #genomics 🧬 is a powerful tool to detect putative #SexDetermination genes: Dmrt1L & SoxH from #bivalves 🦪 share evolutionary patterns with Sry from #mammals 🐗 but not with genes from
#drosophila 🪰

doi.org/10.1111/mec....
Graphical summary of the paper, showin several plots from the manuscript, including a phylogenetic tree of bivalves.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
whistberry.bsky.social
Happy #Invertober day 12!

Pacific razor clam (siliqua patula)

Just the shell from a reference photo by theresephillips on inaturalist

#SciArt #Invertober2025
Digital painting of a Pacific razor clam shell on sand with water running over the opened butterfly wing shape forming lovely highlights and shadows from light reflecting off the water. The shell has subtle stripes of brown, beige, cream, and pale orange.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 12 #Invertober2025 - Pacific razor clam (Siliqua patula) 🐚

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi realistic drawing of two pacific razor clams, with their cream colored syphons and feet peeking out of a bright orange and brown shell dotted with black dots, on a black background. semi realistic drawing of two pacific razor clams, with their cream colored syphons and feet peeking out of a bright orange and brown shell dotted with black dots, on a white background.
filonico.bsky.social
Particularly happy to see #bivalves! My PhD was almost entirely on bivalve #genomics, so Ive been drawing them for papers (self-promotion below) #MarineLife🖥️🧬

tinyurl.com/2bt8hhrj

Tho this the first w/ soft parts too, instead of only the shell!

Day 12 of #invertober2025 is the Pacific razor clam
A vectorial digital drawing of a Siliqua patula, or Pacific Razor Clam, set against a pale blue background. The clam is shown extending its large, fleshy pale cream-colored siphon from one end of its shell. The shell itself is long, narrow, and slightly curved, with a glossy appearance. It is colored in shades of golden-brown and tan, featuring distinct concentric growth rings that run perpendicular to its length. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 12" is in the bottom right corner.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 11 #Invertober2025 - Dark fishing spider (Dolomedes tenebrosus) 🕷️

daaang, girl got legs for ~ daaaaays ~

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi-realistic drawing of a very long legged hairy spider, in orange base with black and grey dots, on a black background. semi-realistic drawing of a very long legged hairy spider, in orange base with black and grey dots, on a white background.
filonico.bsky.social
First paper since I joined @robertofeuda.bsky.social group! An outstanding joint effort to study the trascriptional identity of monoaminergic neurons across bilaterians through #SingleCell 🖥️🧬🧪

I must say it was fun to work for the first time with sea urchin and zebrafish embryos for #microscopy 🔬
robertofeuda.bsky.social
Our latest: combining single-cell RNA-seq from 16 species and HCR validation, we show that monoaminergic neurons share a conserved transcriptional identity across Bilateria. In contrast, we find no evidence for this program in non-bilaterian metazoans. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
Monoaminergic neurons share transcriptional identity across Bilaterian animals
The evolutionary conservation of cell types over deep time has long been theorised but remains difficult to demonstrate. Monoaminergic neurons, which produce molecules such as serotonin and dopamine, ...
www.biorxiv.org
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
molbioevol.bsky.social
He et al. performed large-scale comparative genomics on 131 species of Hymenoptera, providing insights finto genome evolution and the genomic basis of diversification in these insects

🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf221

#evobio #molbio #hymenoptera
MBE | Large-scale Genome Analyses Provide Insights into Hymenoptera Evolution
filonico.bsky.social
My first time ever drawing a #spider?! I was mostly used to insect anatomy, and it was fun to go hunting for corresponding (or, ehm, homologous... sorry, occupational hazard 😅) body parts in spiders.

In Day 11 of #invertober2025 we present you the dark fishing spider 🕷️ #SciArt
A vectorial digital drawing of a Dolomedes tenebrosus, or Dark Fishing Spider, set against a pale blue background. The spider is depicted from above with its eight long, hairy legs spread out. Its body is a mix of browns: the cephalothorax (head and thorax) is a darker brown with subtle lighter markings, and the abdomen is an orangey-brown or peach color. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 11" is in the bottom right corner.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
zoeyeen.bsky.social
#Invertober Day 10: Common Earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) 🪱
#invertober2025
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
rachelmoran.bsky.social
When sex chromosomes turnover, they can reset the rules of genomic conflict.
New preprint exploring how turnover reshapes barriers to gene flow through an “escape-hatch” model for mitonuclear conflict.
Any feedback would be welcome! ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...
Resetting the rules: Sex chromosome turnover as an escape hatch for mitonuclear conflict
ecoevorxiv.org
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 10 #Invertober2025 - Common earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) 🪱

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi-realistic drawing of an earthworm, wiggly and soft pink, on a black background. semi-realistic drawing of an earthworm, wiggly and soft pink, on a white background.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
fossilforager.bsky.social
WHALE FALL PINS NOW AVAILABLE THEY’RE GOING FAST SO GET EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT!!!
fossilforager.bsky.social
Whale Fall pin 🦀🐋🦑
A photo of a large gold-plated enamel pin photographed on top of a lichen-covered rock. The enamel pin features a whale skeleton covered with various deep sea creatures, such as octopuses, hagfish, a giant isopod,  a crab, and chimaeras.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 8 #Invertober2025 - Flamboyant cuttlefish (Ascarosepion pfefferi) ✨

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi realistic drawing of a flamboyant cuttlefish, a small cuttlefish with prominent ping purple tentacles, dark red body with yellow and white banding, on a black background. semi realistic drawing of a flamboyant cuttlefish, a small cuttlefish with prominent ping purple tentacles, dark red body with yellow and white banding, on a white background.
filonico.bsky.social
Name one of your biggest fears as a biologist. I start: misspelling species names on public docs! Clearly it happens so often to ppl that NCBI includes misspelled names in its records. Hilarious.

Was so🤏close to publish Day 10 #invertober2025 (the common earthworm) with a typo💀 Lubrimcus terrestris
A vectorial digital drawing of an Lumbricus terrestris, known as the Common Earthworm, set against a pale blue background. The segmented worm is coiled into an S-shape. The rear end is a pale, slightly pinkish-tan color, while the front end, which includes the clitellum (the band used for reproduction), is a darker reddish-brown color. The clitellum itself is a distinct maroon/red band. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 10" is in the bottom right corner. ​A screenshot of a search box within the NCBI BLAST interface. The user has typed "homo s" into the search field under a section labeled "Organism" The search box is returning several suggested results in red text, showing common misspellings of the scientific name for humans, Homo sapiens, along with the correct taxonomy ID:
· ​Homo sampiens (taxid:9606)
· ​Homo sapeins (taxid:9606)
· ​Homo sapian (taxid:9606)
· ​Homo sapians (taxid:9606)
· ​Homo sapien (taxid:9606)
· ​Homo sapience (taxid:9606)
filonico.bsky.social
Besides the official version of todays #invertober, I'm sharing an alternative one, with a representation of myself during the entire creative process. The level of cuteness of this little buddy was over 999...999! #SciArt

In Day 9 of #invertober meet the gorgeous flamboyant cuttlefish. #MarineLife
Official version. ​A vectorial digital drawing of an Ascarosepion pfefferi, known as the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, set against a pale blue background. The cuttlefish is shown in profile and is displaying its vivid warning coloration. Its mantle is a deep, glossy purple-black with irregular brown and white spots, featuring a prominent horizontal orange-yellow stripe running along the base of its lateral fins. Its tentacles and head are a mix of white, reddish-brown, and dark purple-black. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 09" is in the bottom right corner. Alternative version. A vectorial digital drawing of an Ascarosepion pfefferi, known as the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, set against a pale blue background. The cuttlefish is shown in profile and is displaying its vivid warning coloration. Its mantle is a deep, glossy purple-black with irregular brown and white spots, featuring a prominent horizontal orange-yellow stripe running along the base of its lateral fins. Its tentacles and head are a mix of white, reddish-brown, and dark purple-black. On the right, superimposed over the cuttlefish's body, is a popular Flork of Cows meme character (a simple, stick-figure-like white cartoon character with black eyes and a crying expression) holding its hands up to its face in a distressed or crying gesture.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 7 #Invertober2025 - Scaly foot gastropod (Chrysomallon squamiferum) 🐌

SNAIL. BYE.

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi-realistic drawing of a Scaly foot gastropod, a very fancy black shiny shelled snail with a red soft body but it is covered in little black scales, on a black background. semi-realistic drawing of a Scaly foot gastropod, a very fancy black shiny shelled snail with a red soft body but it is covered in little black scales, on a white background.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
frogge257.bsky.social
Buff-tip moth #invertober2025 #mothArt
Pixel art of a moth. It has a grey body and wings with an orange forehead and an orange patch on its wing.
filonico.bsky.social
Today's #invertober was a bit tough: I admit I got annoyed of all the body fur and didn't put enough effort on finishing up legs 😆 still quite happy with the result though #bugsky #SciArt

Day 8 of #invertober2025: the bee-killer robber fly
A vectorial digital drawing of a Mallophora fautrix, a species of robber fly that mimics a bumblebee, set against a pale blue background. The fly is shown in profile, appearing large and stout. Its body is covered in dense fur: the head and thorax have thick creamy-white/yellow fur, while the abdomen is covered in dense, conspicuous golden-yellow/mustard-yellow fur. Its legs are thick and dark reddish-brown, and its wings are tinted brown with prominent veins. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 08" is in the bottom right corner.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
dinoserious.bsky.social
#invertober 6, buff tip moth. branch animal

#invertober2025
color block drawing of a buff-tip moth on a backdrop of faint stylized branches and leaves. there is a dark frame around the image, with "Phalera bucephala (buff-tip)" is written at the bottom in white
filonico.bsky.social
To be fair, I cheated on this 👀 I already had the template for a general coiled gastropod shell, so I just needed to adapt it
filonico.bsky.social
One of many examples of how sci-fi doesnt need to seek for strange creatures in hidden corners of the universe—our ocean depths already do the job way better! #MarineLife

Day7 of #invertober2025 takes us to abyssal black smockers, home of the scaly foot snail and its iron sulfide shell & scales! 🤯
A vectorial digital drawing of a Chrysomallon squamiferum, or Scaly-foot Gastropod, set against a pale blue background. The mollusk is drawn in profile, dominated by its large, glossy, dark black/charcoal gray shell which has a distinct spiral pattern. Its foot, or body, is a dark gray and is partially covered by textured, scale-like plates of the same dark color. The fleshy parts of the body extending from the shell, including its head tentacles, are rendered in a dark reddish-pink/maroon color. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 07" is in the bottom right corner.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
dinoserious.bsky.social
#invertober 5, painted spiny lobter 🦞

#invertober2025
symmetrical color block art of a painted spiny lobster on a cyan background with geometric marks and braided shapes
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
petrathepostdoc.bsky.social
Day 6 #Invertober2025 - Buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) 🎋

#SciArt #invertebrates
semi realistic drawing of a buff tip moth, a stick looking moth with soft cream fuzz body and stick looking wing patterns in cream, red and grey, on a black background. semi realistic drawing of a buff tip moth, a stick looking moth with soft cream fuzz body and stick looking wing patterns in cream, red and grey, on a white background.
filonico.bsky.social
So how did I come to know the existence of #invertober? It was @petrathepostdoc.bsky.social who introduced it during the "Art (Science) Attack" course I attended last year #SciArt

Don't really know whether to be thankful or not 😆👀

Day 6 of #invertober2025: the fuzzy buff-tip moth #bugsky
​A vectorial digital drawing of a Phalera bucephala moth, commonly known as the Buff-tip, set against a pale blue background. The moth is viewed from above with its wings fully spread. The forewings feature a large creamy-yellow/buff patch at the tip and a central band of browns, tans, and gray-blues, giving it the appearance of a broken twig or piece of wood when resting. The hindwings are a plain, light cream/buff color. Its body is thick, furry, and colored in shades of yellow-brown and dark brown, with a prominent orange/yellow tuft behind the head. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 06" is in the bottom right corner.
Reposted by Filippo Nicolini 🧬
alexandrejan.bsky.social
Happy Ctenophore Day!
These glowing ocean drifters look like jellyfish but aren’t! They’re comb jellies, shimmering creatures that light up the sea with rows of beating cilia 💙🌈
Which species can you identify? 👀 Most are raised in @pawelburkhardt.bsky.social lab
#CtenophoreDay #CombJelly #Ctenophore